338 Chapter 415 Bombing

Once you step outside the city limits in England, you'll find yourself amidst pastoral scenery. Most towns or rural areas have buildings no taller than three stories, and most are brick-and-wood structures, exuding an ancient charm and beauty. These towns generally have a long history, as they have not suffered invasions or natural disasters like earthquakes, so a building can often trace back hundreds of years of history. Some town centers still maintain the layout from centuries ago, with aging facilities, narrow streets, and almost no gaps between houses.

Such an environment, if hit by an incendiary bomb, could see flames spread across several blocks within minutes.

Moreover, it is now winter, and the howling cold winds only fuel the fire, causing thick smoke to billow into the sky.

"Wow, the fire is fierce!"

Pilots in high-flying fighter planes, looking down at the thick smoke rising from the ground, couldn't help but be amazed. They felt that if they flew any lower, they would be smoked black.

"Why haven't we seen any British fighter planes yet?" the fighter squadron commander asked the command center. "Eagle's Nest, Eagle's Nest, have you spotted any British warplanes?"

The command center replied, "Radar has not detected anything; the British Air Force has not deployed."

Hearing this, the other pilots were abuzz. "Could it be that these guys have become turtles, too scared to fight?!"

"No way, that's too pathetic, just watching their own land being bombed?! They might as well surrender outright."

"We should head straight for London, see if they still play turtle." They were now just over eighty kilometers from London, and at their speed, it would take less than ten minutes to reach the city.

"Forget it, London is still being bombarded, do you see them daring to bomb the V3 base?" After the last daytime and nighttime bombings by the British Air Force on the V3 cannon base resulted in heavy losses, they never dared to target the V3 base again.

While the German pilots were mocking the British pilots for their cowardice, villages and towns on the ground were mercilessly engulfed by flames, suffering catastrophic destruction. Plymouth, Torquay, Weymouth, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Brighton, Newhaven, Eastbourne, Hastings, Folkestone, Dover, Ramsgate, Margate... almost all the southern coastal towns were affected.

"God bless, I hope there's no one down there." On a Mosquito bomber, the co-pilot who had returned to his seat after dropping bombs made the sign of the cross on his chest.

The pilot scoffed. "A bombing warning was issued yesterday; everyone must have run away by now, there can't be anyone left."

However, he was wrong; not everyone in the towns below had left. Some stayed out of wishful thinking, some had nowhere to go, and some couldn't bear to leave their homes. For various reasons, those who stayed followed the instructions in the air raid booklet and hid in air raid shelters.

Little did they know that the air raid shelters, designed to protect against shrapnel and stones, could not withstand the invasion of flames. The intense burning depleted the oxygen at the surface, and those hiding in the shelters passed out due to severe lack of oxygen or extreme heat.

"It's really strange, there's no anti-aircraft firepower here." Logically, after issuing a bombing alert yesterday, the British should have deployed dense anti-aircraft firepower, but so far, they hadn't encountered a single anti-aircraft shell, which was unbelievably easy.

What he didn't know was that Britain's anti-aircraft firepower was now severely lacking, and these ordinary rural towns naturally had no anti-aircraft forces. At most, a few anti-aircraft balloons were deployed as a token gesture.

In the original timeline, to prevent the invasion of the British Isles by German aircraft, especially to stop the activities of German mine-laying aircraft, the British military deployed 1,450 anti-aircraft balloons along the coast and in major cities. Many more anti-aircraft balloons were placed to defend the aircraft industry and other targets.

These anti-aircraft balloons were filled with hydrogen, large and light, and usually rose to the altitude of enemy aircraft flights, effectively interfering with the invasion actions of German aircraft. To make the anti-aircraft balloons more mobile and shorten the deployment time, they were retracted to a few meters above the ground when moving and then tied to trucks for transfer.

As for anti-aircraft guns, when France surrendered, the British homeland had only 1,204 heavy anti-aircraft guns and 581 light anti-aircraft guns.

This was far from sufficient, as there were too many places that needed defense by anti-aircraft guns. Various factories, airports, and ports all required focused defense. According to the establishment requirements, the British military should have had 2,232 heavy anti-aircraft guns and 1,860 light anti-aircraft guns, but the actual number of anti-aircraft guns was less than half of what was needed, which was like a drop in the bucket.

Moreover, the production of British anti-aircraft guns was very low, with only 40 large-caliber anti-aircraft guns produced per month, and as the German attacks on sea transport lines became more frequent, the production of anti-aircraft guns, lacking raw materials, also gradually decreased. As a result, the defense of London and other cities had to be temporarily sacrificed, with more anti-aircraft guns used to protect aircraft factories, airports, and other important places.

For example, Plymouth is a British naval base and port city. It is located in the center of Plymouth Bay in southwest England, between the River Plym and the River Tamar, facing the English Channel. A naval shipyard was built here as early as 1690, and at the same time, the southern port of Devon is an important port for the British Navy.

The strategic geographical location made Plymouth develop into an important military port. In later times, it was the home port for 60% of the British Navy's surface ships and also the headquarters of the British Navy. During the famous Normandy landings of World War II (1944), one of the main ports where the Allied forces assembled and departed for Normandy was Devonport.

Yet such an important port was allocated only 80 heavy anti-aircraft guns; compared to the total number of anti-aircraft guns, these 80 were quite a lot, but for similar ports, Germany would deploy at least 100 heavy anti-aircraft guns.

And the places where these heavy anti-aircraft guns were deployed, the German Air Force sent He 117 bombers, which dropped bombs from an altitude of 10,000 meters. Although their accuracy was not great, the ground anti-aircraft guns could do nothing about them. Most of these heavy anti-aircraft guns were QF 3.7-inch (94mm caliber) heavy anti-aircraft guns, with a maximum range of about 9,000 meters, which were completely helpless against the He 117 bomber group flying at altitudes above 10,000 meters.

Therefore, this bombing run was quite smooth.

Hearing the report from Kesselring, Wilhelm raised an eyebrow. "Can the British really keep their cool like this?" He had originally planned to use this opportunity to eliminate as much of the British fighter force as possible. He didn't expect Churchill to keep his cool, watching his own land being ravaged without any reaction.

Kesselring suggested, "Your Highness, shall we strike London directly? Maybe that will draw them out for a decisive battle."

Wilhelm shook his head. "No need, I have prepared another gift for London."